Cinema - Comments / Reviews by Dr Doom

Cinema - Comments / Reviews by Dr Doom

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
Dr Doom SUBS 13th Mar 2016		Cinema Once Upon A Time In The Midlands (2002) (2002)	Rated 5/10 Hailed at the time as Shane Meadows big breakthrough film this actually turned out to be a major disappointment. Perhaps the pressure got to him or perhaps it just couldn't live up to the title. Whatever the case this is certainly my least favourite Meadows film and I think his too! Thankfully things got back on track with his next feature Dead Man's Shoes 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 22nd Feb 2016		Cinema Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) (2008)	Rated 5/10 After seeing a few clips from this I was put off watching this due to Sally Hawkins hugely irritating character Poppy. Being a Mike Leigh fan and the fact that huge chunks of it were shot in my old neighbourhood in North London I couldn't avoid watching it forever and so it has come to pass that I gritted my teeth and sat through it. I can report that Poppy is just as annoying as I'd feared and if you combine that with Eddie Marsan playing a simmering racist it's really not an easy watch. I watched the extras and was amazed to hear that Poppy is a character who you are supposed to fall in love with, her eternal optimism shining through. Perhaps my East coast of Scotland dourness made me immune as I found Poppy excruciating from start to finish. It gets a respectable 7/10 on IMDb so maybe it's just me?! 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 18th Feb 2016		Cinema The Most Dangerous Band In The World: The Story Of Guns N’ Roses (2016) (2016)	Rated 4/10 This documentary comes across as a missed opportunity though I suspect having read a biography of GnR that to have the film made at all was probably an ordeal. It certainly tells us nothing new about the band and if it wasn't for the excellent archive footage then there would be very little reason to watch it. The 'talking heads' quotes are on the whole pretty tame, I suspect everyone involved was wary of an Axl Rose lawsuit hitting them if they really started dishing the dirt. The film starts and finishes with fantasy sequences themed around Alice In Wonderland. I personally thought they were dreadful and Youtube comments would suggest I'm not alone in this. Even more annoying for me is that the film failed to mention the tortuous process leading up to the (massively anti-climatic) release of the last GnR LP 'Chinese Democracy' : 10 years of recording and re-recording with an estimated $13million budget. It's a fascinating train wreck story that hopefully will be told properly some day in the future........ 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 12th Feb 2016		Cinema Powder Blue (2009) (2009)	Rated 7/10 A cast of L.A. strangers and misfits at their wits end whose random encounters change some of their lives dramatically. Although I really enjoyed watching this it was quite annoying at the same time. Some of the events were pretty hard to believe and setting the film on christmas eve feels like an emotional tug too far. It's also pretty hard to believe that women as attractive as Jessica Biel and Lisa Kudrow are so desperate that they can only manage to form relationships with suicidal losers ; ) The whole film comes across as a seedy, slightly dumbed down riff on Robert Altman's Short Cuts but with a cast this star-studded it's hard to go too far wrong. Special mention must go to Patrick Swayze's 'Velvet Larry' - a ridiculous character who looks like a bizarre mix of Siegfried & Roy and Mötley Crüe. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 1st Feb 2016		Cinema Hi, Mom! (Blue Manhattan) (1970) (1970)	Rated 4/10 Worth watching just to see Robert De Niro and Brian De Palma's early efforts but in truth this film has dated rather poorly. The scenes with the guerrilla Improv theatre group are particularly painful to watch. I suspect if it wasn't for De Niro/De Palma then this film would be long forgotten, possibly for the best! 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 22nd Jan 2016		Cinema Joshû Sasori: Dai-41 Zakkyo-bô (Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41) (1972) (1972)	Rated 8/10 If Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion could be considered an unusually artistic 'Women In Prison' genre film then this follow up is 'Women In Prison On Acid'. Meiko Kaji as Matsu is even more mesmerising than the first film and delivers even less dialogue. Her hard stare surpasses even Paddington Bear. There's still enough gore and sadism for this to be appreciated by the B-movie crowd but there's also such amazingly beautiful surreal sequences that it works equally well as an Arthouse film. My favourite scene is just after half an hour when they meet an old woman (or witch?) who proceeds to sing the tale of 'the 7 sinful girls'. This seems to open the doors of perception in this film and they never really get closed again. The state of Psychedelic delirium continues right up until the final eye-popping sequence set on a rubbish tip! 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 22nd Jan 2016		Cinema Joshû 701-gô: Sasori (Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion) (1972) (1972)	Rated 7/10 Nami Matsushima's first love is a crooked narcotics agent in league with the Yakuza. He deceives her and she ends up in prison and then the mayhem really starts. It's easy to see why the 'Female Prisoner Scorpion' films have found such a cult following (Tarantino found them inspirational for his Kill Bill films). They follow a familiar pattern of the uncommunicative anti-hero seeking revenge on all those who have cheated or betrayed them but adds a whole new level of the bizarre. The high levels of nudity and downright Kinkiness probably don't harm the films popularity either. If your fetish is female Japanese prisoners digging holes, filling them up again and then digging them again then this could be the crime/sex/gardening x-over film you've waited for all you life. ; ) 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 22nd Jan 2016		Cinema Mr. Klein (1976) (1976)	Rated 7/10 Set in WW2 occupied Paris where paranoia and mistrust run deep. Alain Delon plays Robert Klein, but which Robert Klein is he? By the end of the film even he doesn't seem to know. Although set in the 40s this film has the same feel as 70s 'conspiracy thrillers' like The Parallax View and The Conversation but most of all it reminds me of Polanski's The Tenant Alain Delon is wonderful in this, the moral ambiguity of the main character keeps you on your toes the whole time. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 19th Jan 2016		Cinema Accident (1967) (1967)	Rated 7/10 A very uncomfortable watch. A cast of unsympathetic and mostly unhappy intellectuals drink heavily, cheat and play games with one another. My favourite scene features Dirk Bogarde angrily making an omelette which no one wants to eat. Guilt, jealousy and despair in abundance. Great stuff. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 18th Jan 2016		Cinema Turkey Shoot (1982) (1982)	Rated 7/10 This 1982 Oz-ploitation bonanza is a dystopian vision of society in the not so far off year of erm.... 1995(!?) Society's 'Deviants' (deviants being pretty much anyone) are sent to punitive prison camps to be reconditioned and generally used and abused. This all leads to a 'Hunger Games' style finale where humans are the prey. It's a very silly film but very good fun if you can handle the gore. The opening credits intercut with news footage of protesters rioting across the globe (and being beaten down by their respective police/armies) are a clever and affecting way of setting the scene before the film even begins. And full marks to our Oz friends for naming the evil leader of the prison camp 'Thatcher'. Hee hee. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 15th Jan 2016		Cinema The Criminal (Concrete Jungle) (1960) (1960)	Rated 6/10 Although Stanley Baker's performance is amazing as the intense (King of the jail) Johnny Bannion, I found a few of the prison scenes a little bit cheesy and unrealistic which spoiled the overall enjoyment of the film. Still worth a watch though. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 15th Jan 2016		Cinema Eva (Eve ) (1962) (1962)	Rated 7/10 'I want the one I can't have and it's driving me mad it's written all over my face' - Morrissey 1985. In this case it's handsome, rich and successful author Tyvian Jones (Stanley Baker) reduced to a pathetic pile of human rubble by the cold hearted and manipulating Eve Olivier (Jeanne Moreau). In one of the most striking scenes his beautiful and neglected wife Francesca Ferrara (Virna Lisi) turns up to find him sleeping on the floor having been forbidden to enter Olivier's bedroom. Stanley Baker was very much a 'leading man' of his day so it's a still a real shocker to see him curled up and looking so weak and pitiful. A not entirely believable but still very entertaining tale of sexual obsession. Moreau's character cares only about money and when asked what she would do with the money answers 'buy records' - chilling stuff! ; ) 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 14th Jan 2016		Cinema Boom (2003)	[YouTube Video]
Dr Doom SUBS 13th Jan 2016		Cinema The Big Night (1951) (1951)	Rated 6/10 John Barrymore Jr plays 17 year old George whose father is badly beaten in front of him on his birthday. This sends him into an adolescent rage and he seeks revenge on the bullying sports journalist Al Judge (Howard St. John) who did it. As the night progresses he learns more about Judge, his father and life in general of course. A perfectly watchable drama without really setting the world of cinema ablaze. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 13th Jan 2016		Cinema The Sleeping Tiger (1954) (1954)	Rated 5/10 It seems a bit trite to dismiss a film from 1954 as being dated but this really is. The whole premise of an American psychiatrist being held up at gunpoint by a young English villain (Dirk Bogarde) and instead of letting the police deal with it taking him into his home and trying to rehabilitate him is a bit hard to believe. Dirk Bogarde is just too posh sounding too. Overall the whole film is pretty unconvincing and doesn't really make it as a drama or a pseudo-noir IMHO. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 11th Jan 2016		Cinema La Sanguisuga Conduce La Danza (The Bloodsucker Leads The Dance) (1975) (1975)	Rated 5/10 I'm really glad this wasn't subtitled as the incredibly cheesy dubbing led to some unintentional entertainment which the film sorely needed. It's a pretty average euro horror, pretty to look at (especially if you like Italian women who like to take their tops off for no apparent reason) but the pacing is painfully slow and the 'horror' moments aren't really very scary. Despite these criticisms it still gets a 5. I'm glad I watched it but am unlikely to repeat the experience. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 10th Jan 2016		Cinema La Rose De Fer (The Iron Rose) (1973) (1973)	Rated 5/10 Time for a new genre - 'Minimal Horror'. Not very much happens in this at all. However this is a Jean Rollin film so despite the lack of action (or plot) it's not as boring as it perhaps should be. Nubile young couple sneak into a crypt in an overgrown cemetery and end up locked in. Are they both possessed? She starts off afraid but later seems to be at one with her surroundings. He suddenly becomes violent towards her. None of this is explained. A curio. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 1st Jan 2016		Cinema Star Wars: Episode II (2002)	Rated 5/10 Marginally better than 'The Phantom Menace'. More Yoda and less Jar Jar Binks can only improve things. I saw this in the cinema in America when it came out and was amazed by the audience participation. The romantic scenes were booed and hissed but the crowd went crazy when Yoda got his lightsaber out (as it were) - the undoubted highlight of the film. The lowpoints for me are the slapstick Jar Jar Binks battle sequences. The clone armies looked pretty damn impressive on the big screen but the atmosphere is ruined by the cut scenes of Jar Jar bumbling his way victory. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 31st Dec 2015		Cinema Star Wars: Episode I (1999)	Rated 4/10 Just re-watched this. It hasn't gotten any better. The CGI characters are excruciatingly cringeworthy (not just the infamous Jar Jar Binks) but their human equal must be Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker. The force is weak with this film. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 22nd Dec 2015		Cinema Inherent Vice (2014) (2014)	Rated 7/10 I have to disagree. It was no classic but I found it a very good watch. A stoner PI flick like an ungodly mix of The Big Lebowski and The Long Goodbye - The only problem being that I think those two films are amazing whereas 'Inherent Vice' is merely pretty good. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 18th Dec 2015		Cinema Spectre (2015) (2015)	Rated 9/10 I think this has had mixed reviews but I thought it was great. The opening sequence during the 'Day Of The Dead' festival in Mexico City was probably my highlight. The only minus would be that Monica Bellucci's character was a bit of a non entity. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 17th Dec 2015		Cinema Star Wars: Episode VII (2015)	Wow! UK must be getting it one day early (or IMDb is wrong)
Dr Doom SUBS 15th Dec 2015		Cinema Le Doulos (1962) (1962)	Rated 9/10 An absolute classic French crime film. Influenced by 40s American film noir but taking things to the next level. Stylish, brutal and utterly captivating. It's actually just as well that it's captivating as the plot has so many double crosses, twists and sudden reversals that you have to keep your wits about you to keep up. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 12th Dec 2015		Cinema Senza Ragione (Redneck ) (1973) (1973)	Rated 6/10 Hmm. I was really hoping for a lost 70s gritty giallo(ish) crime action sleeper but instead I'd say this is a bit of a mess. The annoying thing is that it is almost great. It definitely has it's moments. Without revealing the plot I can say that what looks like a simple 'heist goes wrong' flick actually ends up being far weirder (Including some gratuitous male nudity which is especially unnerving seen as one of the characters is supposed to be 13!) It pains me to say that by far the most annoying thing about this film is Telly Savalas. Some may argue that his character is supposed to be obnoxious and irritating but it still seems like such an over the top performance that it feels more like pantomime rather than film. Let's hope for a 'Directors Cut' Blu-Ray that will reveal the masterpiece amongst the mess. ; ) 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 10th Dec 2015		Cinema Some Girls Do (1969) (1969)	Rated 4/10 I reviewed the previous 'Drummond' film Deadlier Than The Male and made reference to 'Second Rate Bond' and it's sad to say that this film must rate as fourth rate Bond. The storyline is so ludicrous that I won't even attempt to explain it but let's just say that it involves a private army of robot women and you can imagine the rest. This is seriously dumb stuff. it doesn't work as a thriller, an action movie or as a pastiche comedy. It has some kitsch value and a plethora of 60s 'babes' (including a bit role for Joanna Lumley) but overall it's pretty tiresome. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 9th Dec 2015		Cinema Under The Skin (2013)	Rated 8/10 This seems to have been a real 'Love it or Hate it' film and I'm in the love camp. I was probably a bit biased as my friend's description of the plot as 'Scarlett Johansson as a deadly alien wandering around Scotland murdering neds' certainly piqued my interest. There really isn't much of a story but the visuals are amazing and the soundtrack is eerily great too. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 9th Dec 2015		Cinema Deadlier Than The Male (1967)	Rated 7/10 I suppose 'Drummond' films are often thought of as second rate 'Bond' and to a certain extent I think that's true but this is still a very enjoyable caper. I think Richard Johnson doesn't really have the electricity of Sean Connery but Elke Sommer, Sylva Koscina and Suzanna Leigh were certainly up to 'Bond Girl' standards. Refreshing that they were pretty sassy characters too and not just there for eye candy reasons. One lesson they could have learned from the Bond films is to never repeat the novelty death. In this case it's a lethal cigar which is funny and unexpected the first time around but once is certainly enough! 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 4th Dec 2015		Cinema Pretty Poison (1968)	Rated 6/10 Anthony Perkins is suitably wide eyed in the role of an ex-arsonist just released from a mental institution who slides between reality and fantasy. He begins a courtship (with Tuesday Weld) based on his fantasy of being an undercover agent for the CIA with fatal consequences. If I could give this 6.5 then I would. Although enjoyable I'm not sure if I'd watch it again. As jaimeeduardo pointed out in a review of the DVD, it's weird that it's classed as a 'Comedy' on IMDb as underneath the colourful 60s cinematography this film has a dark heart. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 27th Nov 2015		Cinema Knowing (2009) (2009)	Rated 7/10 A pretty crazed film. Science vs Religion vs Aliens/Gods (depending which one of the first two you prefer) It's pretty dumb comic book stuff but I found it to be surprisingly savage. The various deaths and disasters are pretty brutal and without revealing plot spoilers let's just say that it doesn't follow the 'hero saves all' formula. Nicolas Cage is his usual mix of terrible/wonderful but always watchable which is why I continue to watch nonsense like 'Knowing' He he. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Dr Doom SUBS 21st Nov 2015		Cinema Thunderball (1965) (1965)	Rated 7/10 The Bond formula is ramped up a gear with this film as the more camp or kitsch elements start to overwhelm at times. The speeding up of the action sequences are especially comical. The water cannons on Bond's car look no more powerful than two garden hoses and the ability to knock someone out with one punch underwater surely defies all laws of physics. But forget the nitpicking, it's Bond, and on it's own terms it's brilliant. Sean Connery delivers some deadpan punchlines and Claudine Auger is suitably jaw-droppingly attractive as the leading 'Bond Girl' The underwater thing does start to get a bit repetitive at times but at least it gave the producers plenty of opportunity to show off Sean's hairy legs. Overall good and (not quite) innocent fun. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?

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